Junior Crest Minerals has undertaken a corporate restructure as part of its cost-cutting measures aimed at reducing overheads by as much as 40%.
The restructure would see CEO Stephen Jones stepping down from December 16.
“Our costs are currently out of kilter with what we can realistically budget for longer-term mineral exploration and we need to cut back our expenses while we re-prioritise the multiple exploration targets so they are in line with our strategic plan,” said Crest chairperson Jonathon Trewartha.
He added that tough cost reduction measures were necessary to conserve cash for Crest’s longer-term aspirations.
“This period of consolidation is difficult after the company’s dynamic start to public life since the listing on the ASX just 16 months ago. In that period, drilling of more than 37 000 m of reverse and air core has occurred, resulting in a discovery of an extensive gold system at Majestic North. This discovery will be developed further in the coming months.”
Trewartha said that Crest remained enthusiastic about proving up a mineable gold resource at Majestic North, and added that the company had recently applied for an additional tenement of some 103 km2 adjoining the discovery area.
Read more: The mini-taper
As the US fed sits behind closed doors mulling over the highly-anticipated stimulus tapering plan, gold is losing some of its fan base.
The precious metal moved down to $1,309 per ounce by mid-afternoon on Tuesday, halfway in to the two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).
Investors are selling on expectations that the FOMC will announce a slow-down of the $85 billion per month bond purchasing scheme.
But analysts threw out a life-line, speculating that tapering won't be so extreme – a $10 billion reduction per month.
According to one report by Kitco News, bullion may even rise following FOMC's decision on Wednesday because the market is already expecting a taper.
Gary Wagner told Kitco's Daniela Cambone that stimulus reduction is a question of "not so much if but when and how much."
A bond-purchasing slow-down may not have the same pull on gold as it has over the past few months.
"We've actually seen the market begin to factor that in," Wagner said.
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs took a less optimistic tone with gold, noting its "neutral" stance. The investment firm also maintained its view that the precious metal will hit new lows in 2014.
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